Retrieving Darkness
by sanyu-kumiko
Summary: ShidoxCain; Cain begins plans to create a New World Order of vampires, and wishes for Shido to side with him. (Lots of Shido stalking action, flashback sequences, kawaiiness)
1. Retrieving Darkness Chapter One

**Title: Retrieving Darkness  
**Anime:_ Nightwalker, Midnight Detective  
_**Pairing: Shido x Cain  
**Author: Sanyu-Kumiko  
Rating: R

* * *

**Introduction:**

As I watched Riho practice her vampire skills by the moonlight couldn't help but reflect on the times I was her age: a young vampire in a new world.

Even we vampires can be innocents. Riho, like myself at her level, is filled with childlike curiosity and wonderment. Every new vampire learns that the role of blood is different. The crimson nectar of life is not the sap of being but the juice of survival tapped from a grail, the mortal body. The moon plays a different role as well. It plays a different tune on the world than it does for humans and only a select few of us ever get to hear the song of the night through immortal and mortal ears alike. The newborn vampire is like a young tiger with fangs, innocent and adorable yet as deadly as any killer beast.

My thoughts were ended by the light tapping of a small hand against my ear.

"Hey, Shido! Snap out of it, will ya?" The high nagging tone of my fairy comrade Guni wailed in my ear. I then realized that both Yayoi and Riho were staring at me expectantly.

"You went into one of your stupors again." Yayoi taunted me, running a slender hand against her own fabric-covered neck. "I asked you a question, Shido." She purred out my name slowly.

"Oh, sorry." I managed to mutter. I pushed my sunglasses up my nose and eyed both Yayoi and Riho as they watched me. "Could you please repeat the question?"

"I was offering to give you a little midnight snack." Yayoi said in her soft, husky voice. "You look a bit worn down." I noticed Riho blushing furiously at Yayoi's side. She always seemed very uncomfortable whenever I fed from Yayoi in front of her. I believed that Riho thought I enjoyed feeding from Yayoi in particular. That was partially true, seeing that I enjoyed feeding from anyone. However, I greatly appreciated Yayoi's charity and tried every chance I could to make the feeding as pleasurable as possible in return for her allowing me to survive without having to take a life.

They were both waiting for my answer.

"Uh . . . no, that's okay." I managed to blurt. "I'm still pretty full from the last time."

Yayoi seemed a little disappointed. Riho's eyes shimmered with hidden relief.

"Oh, then maybe later, Shido." Yayoi murmured sensually. Riho's eyes widened. Guni simply laughed.

"Mahahahahaa! Look at the idiot's eyes! They're gonna fall outta her head!" Guni wailed, obviously very amused.

"Guni, be nice." I scolded. Guni stifled her little mouth but still giggled uncontrollably. I turned to walk towards the car. Yayoi, laughing softly, followed behind me and Riho trailed at the end in silent embarrassment.

Women.

**Part 1: **

Shido sat in a small waiting room at Yoshiba Community Hospital. He had taken an entire end table hostage to hold his things. Small stacks of paperwork lie on the table along with a small Styrofoam cup with untouched, cold coffee provided for him by a concerned nurse three hours before. The doctors and nurses occasionally stopped in the doorway to watch him work but soon left, seeing nothing out of the ordinary about his behavior. He was a detective, and in a hospital police and detectives graced the halls on a regular basis.

Shido had taken this case a week before. The client, a Mr. Funakida, was the son of a wealthy businessman who had a stroke and was legally dead for over 3 minutes. Mr. Funakida's father was a very interesting case. He was resuscitated with the infection of a breed within him. The man's soul and a breed are now encased in an unconscious body. Shido had attempted to draw the breed out himself but because of the weak state of the patient he was unable to forcefully remove the infection.

Yayoi's department headed breed-immunization research and employed a man named Doctor Uritsu of Tokyo. Doctor Uritsu claimed to have developed a serum that can disinfect a living patient from the breed infection. This doctor would arrive the next morning so for now Shido was keeping watch over Funakida Sr. just in case the breed decided to act up.

He wished Guni were with him. The imp decided to stay with Riho to keep her out of trouble. Despite the cruel comments from Guni and a small spat every now and then the two were beginning to form a strong friendship. Shido admired their bond and yearned for a similar one. There just wasn't anyone to get close to for him. He didn't have anything in common with Guni or Riho other than being inhuman and his wish to keep his past hidden restricted much of the conversation friends participate in. His relationship with Yayoi, despite the jokes and intimate moments, was simply on a professional basis. She went out on dates and had her own work and separate life away from the agency. He truly was alone in his life and experiences.

How depressing.

Shido decided that he had sat in one place far too long. He tucked his papers beneath and arm and wandered out of the waiting area. After disposing of the ice-cold coffee he peeked into the isolation room where Funakida Sr. was. The room was lined with plastic sheeting. Indeed, the man was being handled no different than an Ebola patient. Nothing seemed amiss. Shido felt it safe to leave for a few minutes to wander the grounds and stretch his legs.

The halls were bare. It was 1:38 a.m. and the lights in the halls had been dimmed to conserve energy. Night-shift nurses slumped lazily over home and garden improvement magazines and emergency room doctors gathered in lounges for their breaks to chug stale coffee and watch the Late Show on a small, distorted black and white TV. Loved ones and family members slept on small benches outside of short-term patient's rooms and a janitor walked to a storage room carrying dead flowers from a newly vacated terminal illness suite.

Shido found a small corner where soda machines and candy machines lined the wall. A small box filled with newspapers and magazines stood against the wall as well. He had no need for candy or soda but did find the previous day's newspaper intriguing. After retrieving a paper he stepped into the cool, dark stairwell and sat on the nearest step to read it.

Halfway through the paper the soft tapping echo of shoes against the cement steps rang out from under him. The steps began to get closer. Shido stood and folded the paper into a messy, crumpled pile and let his light cerulean eyes peer into the darkness in all directions. The tapping was very loud now, as if right behind him but he saw nobody. His chest tightened. A familiar sensation ran through him. It started at his fingertips like frostbite, then worked its way up his arms and his spine to the back of his neck. Shido's breath hitched in his throat. This sensation was powerful and very familiar.

Cain.

"Hello, Shido." Came that low, heavily accented voice from the darkness. The footsteps had stopped. Shido nearly fainted from anxiety.

"What do you want, Cain." Shido managed to growl. His voice faded at the end of the statement and thus made it seem meeker than he preferred.

"I expected you to be happier to see me." Cain's voice replied coolly. He was still nowhere to be seen and that, to Shido, was very unnerving.

"What the hell do you want?" Shido howled loudly, becoming frustrated. "Why won't you leave me the fuck alone you ... you hellion!"

The only response Shido received was a grab from behind. An arm clenched around Shido's waist and an icy hand grabbed his neck at the throat and tilted his head up. The grip was so intensely powerful it choked and muted Shido's shocked cry. A body formed behind him and a cold breeze brushed against his ear. From the corner of his eye he could make out a halo of golden hair as it mixed with his own violent tresses.

"What a _cruel_ way to address me, Shido." The voice murmured in his ear. Shido was paralyzed. He could neither speak nor move in Cain's grasp. His former master let out a soft chuckle before loosening his grip on Shido's neck to allow him to speak but kept the younger vampire tightly restrained.

"Cain . . . "Shido managed to gasp, "Why are you doing this?"

"I want you to come back to me, Shido. I've waited long enough, don't you think?" Cain whispered into Shido's ear. "I've been watching you play with your humans and I'm tried of waiting. I want things to be the way they used to be. With you at my side I will be happy once more. Don't you remember how happy you were, Shido? " Cain murmured. Shido could feel the older vampire nuzzle his hair. He pulled at his arms under Cain's grasp but was no match for the powerful supernatural. Shido didn't think Cain would kill him, but being unexpectedly violated without consent by something he equated with evil just wasn't a picnic in the park.

"Let me go, Cain." Shido commanded, finally finding his strength in his voice. Cain found this amusing and laughed a little at Shido's bold commands.

"I've brought you a little present, Shido." Cain whispered into the younger vampire's ear. This caused Shido to shiver and tremble under Cain's steel grip. The hand at his neck lifted and vanished at the side of his face. It reappeared. An index finger was glowing with Cain's powerful blood. It swelled at the severed skin and shimmered in the dark stairwell. The powerful scent of the blood caused Shido's stomach to ache. Inside he yearned for it like a parched man in a desert yearned for water.

"Take this." Cain said in his powerful voice. Shido's mind screamed and said otherwise.  
"No! No, please! Not this!" Shido frantically wailed. Shido's attempts to turn and twist out the other vampire's grasp were in vain. Cain's finger pressed between Shido's lips and the blood sated with Cain's power trickled into the struggling vampire's mouth. Cain forced Shido to take it and the younger vampire's struggle simply drained him of energy. The force of Cain's arm around him tightened painfully and the addictive qualities of the blood took control. Shido fell still as the liquid poured down his throat. It fused through his body and lined every cell of his being. He had finally gotten rid of Cain's presence in him only to have it forced upon once more.

"Good, Shido." Cain whispered as he fed Shido the blood. "We will be one again soon, my beautiful child. You will forget all of this human heart nonsense and be the vampire I made you to be. You will become that magnificent creature you once were."

Shido's eyes closed. The blood had taken complete control. He felt exhausted and tired. Slowly his pale eyes lidded and his body relaxed in Cain's grasp.

_"Remember, Shido... remember."_


	2. Retrieving Darkness Chapter Two

**Title: Retrieving Darkness  
**Anime:_ Nightwalker  
_**Pairing: Shido x Cain  
**Author: Sanyu-Kumiko  
Rating: R

* * *

**Part Two:**

"I just can't do it."

Cain smiled at his new student. The master of these lands was surprisingly patient for someone as sinister a reputation as he had. The young man before him had taken to pouting, something he would have to work out of his persona soon enough.

"It isn't that you can't, it is that you won't, Shido." Cain said aloud, toying with a dagger between his fingers. "Try it again."

"But I told you I can't! Are you _dense_ or something?"

Cain raised a blond brow at his feisty student and with a flick of his wrist the dagger flew across the small field to land on the ground beside his child's feet. The young man called Shido stared down at it and then let his light blue eyes dart over to his teacher.

"Now do it."

Shido lifted his hand to his mouth and cringed at what was to come. With a quick and rather reluctant motion he bit a fang into his finger. A rouge glow formed there and trickled over the new vampire's pale skin.

"That didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would." Shido mumbled, staring in awe at his handiwork. "Now what?" Cain walked away from the tree he was leaning against and stepped up to his pupil. His cold hands grasped the amateur immortal's chin and tilted it up so that his own golden cat-eyes met the pale aqua of the younger vampire's.

"You are going to unleash the power resting within you so that you may utilize your blood for a weapon." Cain said gently, letting a frigid thumb glide over Shido's smooth jaw line. "Your eyes will look like mine when you are done. This takes practice. Relax."

The younger vampire did as ordered. After a few attempts those blue orbs transformed into the golden cat-eyes of a vampire.

"Now, think about something in your mind. A whip, a sword, a dagger or an arrow and mold your blood with this image in mind." Cain said plainly. He grasped Shido's bleeding finger and lifted it so that Shido could gaze at his own bleeding digit.

Shido stared at it. Nothing happened. He stared harder. Still nothing.

"This isn't working." Shido finally muttered. Cain merely stared at him confidently.

"Keep trying." Cain instructed. Shido tried again and again. Nothing.

"I just can't do it." Shido repeated again. This obviously was his phrase of choice. Cain chuckled, amused at Shido's frustration.

"You aren't focusing."

"I am focused. There is my damned finger and I'm staring at it. It isn't doing anything."

"Well, I guess you're just an idiot." Cain said. Shido stared up at him in shock. He was offended and hurt.

"Idiot? Take that back." Shido hissed at his master. Cain just smiled at him and shrugged casually.

"Oh, I can't because it is true. Don't be upset, some of us just aren't as bright as others." Cain replied plainly, turning away from Shido to look out over the abandoned field.

"I am not an idiot! Look, here is the fucking finger and the blood. I've been staring at it and it isn't doing a damned thing! What am I supposed to do? I want it to turn into the dagger and it just won't work so just how am I stupid? How am I supposed to turn something into something that it isn't? Ugh... stupid blood! Turn into a dagger all ready!"

And it did. Shido fell silent.

"Your anger helped to make you determined and more focused." Cain replied as he turned around with a smile. "You'll get better at this, it takes practice."

Shido didn't reply.

"Well, I guess training is over for today, Shido . . . "Cain said softly in his Transylvanian accent. He approached the young vampire and leaned down to press a small kiss to the violet-haired man's lips. The kiss was enthusiastically received.


	3. Retrieving Darkness Chapter Three

**Title: Retrieving Darkness  
**Anime:_ Nightwalker  
_**Pairing: Shido x Cain  
**Author: Sanyu-Kumiko  
Rating: R

* * *

**Part Three:**

Shido awoke to the sound of a voice on the intercom in the hospital waiting room. His eyes cracked open. The waiting room was filled with patrons all sitting nervously in anticipation for new of their loved ones. How did he get here? Where was Cain? What happened?

The panic must have been obvious in his eyes. The patrons in the waiting room stared at him as if he were a psychiatric patient on the loose. Shido figured it was best to leave now before he drew too much attention to himself. He found his paperwork from the night before neatly settled on the end table as he had left it before. Perhaps the situation with Cain had been a dream? He didn't feel any different.

After a few minutes of deliberation Shido concluded that the Cain encounter had indeed been merely a nightmare and set off to the patient Funakida's room to check on his progress. When he arrived at the door he was surprised to meet a hoard of investigators and Tokyo police. Anxious to see what was going on with his client he pushed through a few cops to meet another private investigator.

"What is this? What is going on?" Shido demanded of the man. The other man, a tall and lanky detective in a wrinkled brown coat, simply ignored Shido for a long moment before acknowledging him.

"Who are you?" The skinny man asked.

"Tatsuhiko Shido, Private Investigator. This man is a relation to my client, Funakida." Shido explained. The man didn't seem impressed.

"The patient is dead."

Shido's mind raced. How could that be? According to his watch only three hours ago he had checked up on Funakida and saw that he was stable and in relatively good condition.

"The breed?" Shido asked frantically. The skinny man's brows furrowed in annoyance.

"Perhaps, but not the breed that infected him."

"What do you mean?"

"I can not release this information to you, Mr. Shido." The skinny man snapped. Shido was determined to know. It was his responsibility to his client to find out. With a polite bow Shido retreated from the rude investigator with intent on finding an alternative report on Funakida's death. A registered nurse that he had seen checking up on Funakida sat in a bench sipping tea with her friends. They were murmuring small comments here and there about the mysterious death of the breed patient. Shido stood at the corner of the hall and eavesdropped, utilizing his vampiric hearing to hear clearly what the main nurse said.

_"It was horrible, he was so pale when we found him."_

_"His life support machines were ripped from him."_

_"Yes, the catheters were torn..." "What?"_

_"No kidding!" _

"_Yes! It was amazing. There were two holes in his neck."_

_"No... what from?" "Punctures... His blood was drained-"_

Shido's heart jumped into his throat. It couldn't have been, it just couldn't have. It was just a dream. Cain couldn't have been there.

Out of the corner of Shido's eyes came a small shimmer of light. It caught his attention. The detective tilted his head and a gloved hand rose to caress the glowing thing from his hair. He snagged it and held it up to eye-level to better inspect it.

A long, golden blond hair curled around his finger.


	4. Retrieving Darkness Chapter Four

**Title: Retrieving Darkness  
**Anime:_ Nightwalker  
_**Pairing: Shido x Cain  
**Author: Sanyu-Kumiko  
Rating: R

* * *

**Part Four: **

"Mr. Shido? Is something the matter? Mr. Shido... Mr. Shido?"

Tatsuhiko Shido simply stared at his desk lost in thought again. Riho stood at the opposite side of the room cradling a mug of coffee and was growing increasingly concerned with Shido's lack of response to her inquiries. Guni, Shido's little pixie-like companion, stomped across the desk and promptly jabbed a pointy little heel into the top of the vampire's hand. The physical contact snapped Shido back into reality.

"Ow! What... what is it?" Shido stammered, staring down at the little fairy who glared angrily back up at him.

"You were off in La-La Land again, Shido! Riho asked you a question." Guni growled. Riho could feel her face flush as Shido stared up at her with a questioning gaze.

"Mr. Shido- I asked if there was anything wrong. You were acting strange again. Are you feeling sick?" Riho asked softly. The violet-haired man's eyes closed for a long moment before reopening again on the young vampire before him. Ever since that night at the hospital Shido couldn't stop thinking about what Cain had done to him and what happened to his client. He felt guilty. If only he had been more alert and more capable of fighting Cain off he could have been able to save Mr. Funikida from his master's thirst for blood. Now another soul was lost to his kind and he could do nothing about it. Shido felt helpless- a feeling he didn't particularly care for.

"You know our kind can't get sick, Riho." Shido answered flatly. "And I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all." Guni gave a small scoff and began pacing around Shido's desk.

"Uh oh, Mr. Soliloquy is thinking again. Everyone watch out!" Guni exclaimed in her overly sarcastic tone. Annoyed with the little imp, Shido grabbed his hat from the corner of his desk and cupped it over her, caging the little nuisance for the time being.

"Why are you so mean to me?" Guni wailed from beneath the hat. Shido didn't respond. He wasn't in the mood for fun and games. He felt strange inside. Something had awoken. It felt as if a caged beast formerly bound by his human emotions had been freed by a dagger wielded by Cain. No matter how much he fought these old feelings they seemed to surface more and more. Memories from times past began to swell into his thoughts and flood out all other things on his mind. He was hungry for things he had tried for so long to forget.

The door to the office burst open and Yayoi, in her familiar skimpy getup, strode inside and sat at the corner of Shido's desk. She tossed a large stack of papers in front of him and brushed her dark hair from her face.

"Something is up. Something big. It's happening downtown. Seven dead bodies have been reported laying in gutters. Oddly there is no sign of the breed. However, all of the bodies like Mr. Funakida were drained of their blood." Yayoi paused for a moment and absently let her hand caress the side of her neck in thought. "The victims seem to be chosen at random. All of the bodies seem to have been left hanging halfway from manholes and gutter slats in the streets, signifying that whatever if feeding from them must be located in or around the sewer system."

Shido felt his body tense. Carefully he opened the files and began sifting through pictures of dead bodies, laying like lifeless husks on the streets with mouths agape in frozen screams. All had two distinct holes on the side of their neck. Cain. He knew it had to be him. Who else could it be?

"Shido. Do you think that..." Yayoi began to ask but Shido didn't give her a chance to finish her question. The violet-haired vampire pushed himself to a stand and took up his hat from the desk, freeing Guni from her makeshift trap. However, rather than stand there and scold Shido for his rudeness the little imp simply stared up at him with a small worried expression.

"I'm on it. Guni, stay here and watch Riho."

"But- Mr. Shido..." Riho began to protest. It was no use. Soon Shido had retreated from his office with Yayoi trailing behind him.

It was time for a little family reunion.

Authorities had taped off a large portion of the downtown market. The area was swarming with media and onlookers who were not informed of the events taking place. All the public knew was that there were a few cases of homicide performed most likely by a serial killer who was at large in the sewer systems. As Shido and Yayoi arrived on the scene they were attacked by packs of men with cameras and television reporters looking to catch a hot scoop. Yayoi managed to curse everyone and anything that came near them as well as threaten the lives of many reporters until they backed off. When the two arrived on the crime scene a head officer of the police station met them.

"Hello. My name is Felix Rogue." The man said. He was rather young for a head officer, Shido thought, but he seemed to have a professional air about him. Shido gladly shook the man's hand.

"This is Tatsuhiko Shido, a private investigator. He is very familiar with the paranormal and supernatural as well as occult crime." Yayoi told Mr. Rogue who simply observed Shido with interest.

"It is good that we have someone with expertise staffed here. Please, come with me." The young man led them to a small mobile crime unit truck. Inside a few police officers sat around computer screens and spoke on radios. "This is our command center. Seeing as this entity is dangerous we have rigged all units who go below with special camera systems and radio units to monitor their progress. We don't want to lose anyone down there. The sewer system is a complex array of tunnels and turns so we needed a place to direct the units through this sub-city labyrinth." The young man pointed to a few things before Shido quickly interrupted them.

"You haven't sent any units down yet, have you?"

The officer was surprised by that question. "Why yes, of course." Shido felt his heart race. Those men didn't have a chance against Cain, high tech gadgets or not.

"You have to tell them to come back NOW!" Shido yelled. Yayoi was just as surprised at Shido's outburst as Mr. Rogue was. "If they don't get out of there right away they all will die!"

Suddenly a loud beeping noise came from one of the monitors and an anxious voice cried out over the speaker system. "Man down! We have a man down!"

Mr. Rogue rushed to one of the speakers and spoke into a microphone. "All men, retreat now!" But it was too late. One by one the cameras on the men's suits went black, followed by the electronic distorted snow of malfunction. The people in the mobile crime unit began to panic. These were men who were used to fighting things of flesh and blood – they had no experience with the paranormal or supernatural.

"What in the hell is going on!" Rogue yelled at the top of his lungs, slamming on a keypad. "What is happening down there?"

Shido gave a small sigh and glanced at Yayoi before speaking up over the din of anxiety from the men in the truck. "I am going down there alone. Do not send anyone else below."

All of the men fell silent. They didn't know what Shido was. He didn't look like a priest and they just couldn't believe that one man would go down to attempt to defeat something that had wiped out eight of their own highly trained officers.

"What equipment do you need to take with you? Do you need anything, guns, ammunition...perhaps we could connect you to the camera system?"

"I have everything I will need, thank you. Give me an hour and please, don't send anyone or anything down there." Shido said, grateful for the man's concern. He knew very well that Cain would not kill him.

They prepared a drop for Shido to set him in the sewer system and slowly he descended standing on a small platform. It reeked of sewage and waste. Luckily he could just block out the sensations he pleased. Armed with only a large flashlight and a hand radio Shido walked down the narrow path towards the heart of the sewage system in search for the vampire Cain. It was dark. Occasionally light would filter down through the open manholes above or through the gutter slots to illuminate small patches of damp concrete. The sound of scurrying rats brushing against walls echoed through the tunnels and the gurgle of reeking water played a steady, melodious tune in this urban underworld. The bodies of the eight men had mysteriously vanished. There was no trace of their presence anywhere.

It was disgusting, far worse than Shido had imagined it. He couldn't believe that Cain would come down here to the level of rats to lure him to the darkness. He was always too classy for that. Suddenly Shido felt strange. His throat began to tighten and his senses began to detect a figure ahead in the inky darkness. Another vampire. However, panic began to set in. It wasn't Cain. He knew Cain's presence and this weaker sensation wasn't his powerful master. No, this was someone else.

"Show yourself!" Shido hollered. There was no need to raise his voice. The shallow sound of his command echoed from the walls and nagged back at him, taunting him. The figure shifted in the darkness but made no attempt to do as Shido instructed.

"Show yourself now, vampire." Shido hissed, growing frustrated. The figure finally began moving towards the light but before it revealed itself it moved with supernatural speed to the edge of the concrete and threw itself into the sewer water with a loud splash and vanished beneath its depths. Shido felt very uneasy. Before he could come up with a plan of action the other vampire lurched out of the water near his feet and tackled him against the wall. Shido dropped the hand radio and the flashlight upon impact. The radio fell into the water and the flashlight spun on the slick cement, casting its pale beam of light in all directions before stopping to shine against the wall opposite of them. The body clung to Shido's coat and a face appeared before him. Two large, golden cat-eyes glowed in the darkness.

"You are the one... Master Cain's prized possession." A raspy feminine voice hissed. Two hands grasped Shido's neck and began to squeeze. Shido felt his anger rise. It was a woman but who was she? How dare she kill those people and how dare she leap on him in such a manner and speak of such things! Shido then released the vampire within. His eyes formed into two cat-like golden slits and his fangs jabbed out of his gums. He hissed back at the female who only laughed at him in amusement. "We have been waiting for you, Shido..."

Rage began to well up in Shido's mind. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want these vampires to think he associated with them or that he liked them. Shido wanted nothing to do with the darkness. Angry and insulted Shido gave a loud scream and slammed his hands into the female's chest. She was shoved off and fell on the slick ground beside Shido and began snickering with her wicked, creepy laugh.

"You can't deny us, Shido. We are one of the same blood, you and I. Brother- you are my eternal brother..."

"No! NEVER!" Shido screamed again. He jumped up to his feet and rather than summon his sword with his vampiric blood he just pounced on the female and grabbed her by the neck and began shaking her, slamming her shoulders and the back of her head against the hard cement. Over and over again he slammed her. He was enraged. It had been so long since he had been this angry that he couldn't seem to control himself. He kept slamming the female until blood began to pool behind her head and around them like a crimson aura of death. His brown gloves were stained with it and the knees of his pants were soaked with the other vampire's blood. But she did not die. She just lie there and laughed at him as he pounded her head against the ground.

"Die, damn you! DIE! I am not like you! I am not like any of you!" Shido wailed in fury, beating the vampire against the ground as she cackled. He couldn't take it anymore. Frustrated and lost in his wave of violence Shido became frantic to kill her and make her stop laughing and so with a hard thrust with his fist he punched the other vampire in the chest and grabbed her unbeating heart from within and tore it out. The heart, having not been used for many years, was a limp and bloody muscle within his hand. He squeezed it as hard as he could. The female vampire's laughter turned to horrid and pained cries as Shido crushed it and soon she began to grow lethargic and gradually stopped moving all together.

"Shido... my brother..." She whispered. Shido stood up and, shaking, kicked her in the skull. She fell silent, consumed by a final death. Shido dropped her heart on the ground. Just as he did so a swarm of starved sewer rats appeared from all directions and stampeded to her body, consuming her flesh in a frantic feeding frenzy. Shido stepped back and watched in horror. His body shook and his hands, covered with the female's blood, trembled uncontrollably. The violet-haired vampire could do nothing but stare at the blood and gore that had formed by his hand. He was shocked. It had been so long since such anger had overpowered him. That feral side of him had gotten loose and had ripped apart this female's torso like it was nothing. He killed her with his hands and not with the sword. The blood was on his flesh and clung to his clothes.

He was the killer now.


End file.
